LG E2290V review

The elegant and slimline E2290V is just 7.2mm thick and incredibly light, yet still manages to deliver good-quality images

by
Cliff Joseph| 16 May 11

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LG E2290V review

Even Apple might want to take a closer look at the elegant, slimline design of LG’s new E2290V monitor. The 21.5in screen (LG says it’s 22in but it’s actually 21.5in) is just 7.2mm thick, and the entire unit is so light we were able to pick it up in one hand while connecting the cables for our laptop and iPad.

The casing of the monitor and stand is mostly constructed out of plastic, but it has a gleaming metallic finish that looks terrific. It’s also quite solidly built despite the thinness of the screen and its lightweight materials.

All the cables fit neatly into the base of the stand, with HDMI, DVI and VGA connectors that will allow you to hook up a computer and an iPad or a DVD player at the same time. That makes it easy to switch from one device to another when you want to play games or watch videos, or just do a bit of routine email or web browsing. The stand also houses a set of glowing touch-sensitive controls for the onscreen menu system.

The LED backlighting produces a bright, sharp image and although LG’s claim of 10,000,000: 1 contrast ratio sounds a bit over the top, the image quality was very good. It produced crisp, strong colours when we were watching Wonders of the Universe in HD using the BBC iPlayer.

The elegant and slimline E2290V is just 7.2mm thick and incredibly light, yet still manages to deliver good-quality images

Even the onscreen menu system has good attention to detail. There are image presets for tasks such as watching movies or browsing the web, and selecting one of these shows a split-screen ‘before/after’ effect so that you can see how each preset affects the image quality.

The only disadvantage of the E2290V’s slimline design is that there’s no room for built-in speakers. There’s a headphone socket in the base of the monitor, but you’ll have to provide a proper set of external speakers for watching video or playing games.

OUR VERDICT

This monitor is also a little pricey, given that it only has a 21.5in screen. Even so, the E2290V is still a good choice if you want a slim, lightweight monitor that provides good image quality for both work and play.